


Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend - But Obsidians are the Hunter's Treasure

by Bella_Monoxide



Series: The Little Things... in the Apocalypse [6]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Judith is two years old, M/M, Prison setting, They never left
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:30:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3913030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bella_Monoxide/pseuds/Bella_Monoxide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl and Carl go on a hunt together that has interesting consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend - But Obsidians are the Hunter's Treasure

A couple days later, Daryl finally went out of the prison grounds again, going on a hunt with Carl at the crack of dawn. Zach dropped by Daryl's cell where Carl met up with the hunter, and kissed Carl goodbye, telling him to be safe. During a parting hug, he locked eyes with Daryl over Carl's shoulder for a moment. Daryl nodded slightly, signaling he would keep Carl safe.

As they went out through the shutters and into the surrounding woods, Daryl thought of his talk with Rick last night, telling him to watch out for Carl as well. Feeling pressured by all this, he shook himself in an attempt to feel lighter again.

He needed to stay focused and alert, otherwise they would not catch anything, and Carl would learn nothing new. He signaled for Carl to go ahead, while he brought up the rear, keeping an eye on the surrounding woods – and both ears out for walkers.

Carl went on, trying to put to use what Daryl had already taught him, looking for tracks, but finding only minor or old ones so far. Daryl was impressed by how much skill Carl was showing. They made it a point to walk along different ways, so they might find trails in places they usually did not search.

Carl stopped, pointing at some traces he had spotted, looking excited. Daryl nodded approvingly, and they followed the tracks, managing to bag a deer in the process. Daryl suggested to put it up into a tree for safekeeping and using the time to keep on moving around, teaching Carl some more, and he agreed happily. But first, they sat down for a break, getting their water bottles out.

Carl looked at Daryl, and the hunter thought something was up. "Daryl, can I ask you something?"

"Probably," the hunter answered guardedly. "Depends on what it's about, huh?"

Carl smiled, and clarified "Since you are the only person that knows about me and Zach, I would like to ask you something concerning that."

Daryl scoffed, shaking his head. "Believe me, kid," he said, "you don't want relationship advice from a redneck."

"Oh come on, Daryl! You are the only person I can ask. Please don't say no." Carl looked pleadingly, and Daryl felt sorry for him. "What is it, then?"

"Well. Zach is very protective of me, as you know."

Daryl nodded. "No shit." His mumbled reply made Carl grin. "I kinda like it, you know – makes me feel good. Wanted. But at the same time, I would like to go a little further with him, and he is always stopping me, talking about protection and whatnot."

"Well," Daryl admitted grumpily, "he gotta point there, you know."

"Yeah yeah." Carl rolled his eyes. "I know he's talking about condoms, right? But from what I heard, Glenn and Maggie are having an increasingly hard time by now, finding only stuff that is already expired."

Daryl nodded, and Carl continued. "But that's not all you need, right?"

Daryl looked alarmed now, wondering if there was still a chance to get out of this. Where is the walker when you need one, he asked himself, but Carl looked at him in such a way that Daryl cold not find it in himself to deny him answers.

"Well," he began reluctantly, while Carl beamed at him, "first off, if Zach got tested before the world went to shit, you should be fine without the condoms, as long as you keep up a good personal hygine, of course." Carl nodded, waiting for what else Daryl had to say.

"As for the..." he coughed, looking somewhere else, but carried on, "...penetrating part, you would need lube, ideally. And I guess there is still some out there that's good, just gotta find it. Will be a little tricky, especially since we can't tell everyone to keep an eye out for it..!" They both laughed about the mental image that came with that statement.

"Of course you could use other stuff, but it's getting harder with everything the longer we stay alive..." He trailed off.

Carl looked at him. "Would you keep a lookout, Daryl?"

"Sure." Came the immediate answer, and Carl smiled.

After a while of companionable silence, Carl said "how come you know so much about this? Don't get me wrong, but from what I've heard, rednecks had a tendency to be homophobic, right?" Daryl blushed.

Carl reached out and touched Daryl's arm, trying to comfort him. "It's ok, Daryl, you don't have to tell me, and I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable."

"'S a'ight, kid. Reminds me of my life before the apocalypse, 's all."

"You never had a girlfriend, huh?"

Daryl scoffed. "Never had a boyfriend, either. You try pulling a relationship off, living the way we did." He shook his head and shuddered. "Longest I ever been with someone was a fuckbuddy over in Atlanta, who was a closet gay. Wasn't much fun. Couple one nighters with guys I met in bars, that's 'bout it. You're damn lucky you found someone you wanna be with."

"Wow," Carl said, "you're so open with it."

"Nope. Have been in denial until recently, always thought I wasn't gay, and Merle seems to have known all along, no matter how hard I tried to keep up a facade. Always teased me, like I told you and Zach the other day. Well," he sighed, "at least he didn't beat me up or tell our dad, so I guess that's something..."

Carl suggested they should go after a bout of silence, and they got up, walking on, with Daryl pointing stuff out, teaching Carl and testing what he already knew.

When they got back to the prison with their deer in tow, Carl went to search for Zach as soon as he could, finding him sitting out in the yard on a blanket with Judith. Zach beamed at him, happy Carl made it back alright. After telling him about the hunt, Carl told Zach about his talk with Daryl – and that he was gay, too.

Zach got very excited. "We gotta help him and your dad getting together somehow, Carl, we have to!" Judith bounced with excitement as well, sitting between them, clapping her little hands. Carl cuddled her and told Zach that he would think about something.

Later on, he talked to his dad after dinner, speaking about the training and how much everybody had improved already. But Rick looked over at Daryl a few times, and even though Rick himself did not realise, Carl noticed it. "You know dad – you and Daryl should do something fun together."

Rick looked at him, puzzled by the word fun, for which they did not seem to have much use in this world anymore. After a while though, he began to chuckle and told Carl about the DVD's he got on that run once. Unfortunately, the generators did not work anymore, cause they needed all the gas they had for cars.

"So how could we watch?" Rick asked, looking sad. He had felt good about surprising Daryl, and now he could not go through with his plans.

Carl looked at him, thinking hard. "I will talk to Zach about it. He might be able to figure it out, using car batteries or something." And he smiled at Rick who beamed.

"That's a great idea! Thanks, Carl!" Hugging his son, he said "you and Zach really hit it off, huh?" Carl felt apprehensive, and left shortly afterwards to go to bed – and to sneak off to Zach's cell later.

Looking over at Daryl, who by now sat in an armchair with Judith in his lap, glasses perched on his nose, reading a story about princesses and unicorns to her, he thought that it already felt like Daryl was a member of his family as well.

* * *

While Carl sneaked off to be with his boyfriend during the night, Daryl lay in his bed, thinking. Talking to Carl about his relationship today had stirred something in him, and now he could not shake the feeling that he was missing an important piece to a puzzle. But everytime he thought he had it, the idea slipped away again.

Damn, he thought to himself, I have been thinking about Rick and our friendship a lot, lately. Maybe it's time for me to move on... And all the little things that had happened came back to him. How he cared for Rick's kids as if they were his own.

How Rick did stuff for him, either to try and help him, like with the glasses, or just to make him feel better. The unicorn was an example for that – as was the whiskey, even though that one had backfired, but that was his own fault. And after all, it was the thought that counts.

He finally gave in and tried to be honest, thinking about how his feelings had changed. He felt responsible for Rick and his family, would do anything to keep them safe. And he wanted to make Rick happy, keep his worries at bay, lighten his burden.

It was hard for Daryl to try and get to the bottom of all this. Admitting to himself that he liked Rick more than just as a friend. But all the gestures and touches they had been exchanging over the last couple of weeks had made him feel good; so good in fact, that he had begun to crave them, trying to initiate them.

Daryl blushed as he thought of this, especially when he remembered about how he had called Rick pretty, even if it happened under that pain meds/alcohol combo. He sighed deeply, and turned to lay on his side.

Right, he thought, I even know the mans goddamn favorite sleeping position. What the heck is wrong with me? And why do I think about Rick before I go to sleep at night? "Ah, shit." He said out loud, getting up to sit on his bed, not sure what to do.

Remembering how he had felt reassured, safe, when Rick had held his hand after he got injured on his hunt, Daryl buried his face in his hands, sighing. Realising just how much he had been in denial all that time made him feel dizzy.

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks – if he felt this way, what about Rick? Why would he snuggle up to Daryl and sleep so peacefully? He needed to talk to him. But no, he could not do that. Or could he? Running around in circles within his mind, but getting nowhere, he settled for keeping an eye out for Rick's behaviour and tried to go to sleep.

* * *

A couple of days later, they went on the next run, and Rick, Daryl and Carl were on it, together with Maggie. Arriving at a housing development, they split up to search more efficiently.

Rick and Daryl went to check the houses on the left side of the street together, dispatching any walkers that got in their way, one at a time.

A few houses down the street later, Daryl was currently searching a bedroom. He had pulled lube out of the drawer of a bedside table, and was about to pocket it with the condoms he had found at another house, as Rick walked in, talking about some first aid stuff he had found in a bathroom.

He stepped closer when he saw the bottle Daryl held and asked "What is that?" But Daryl found that his voice had taken a leave of absence.

Rick snatched the bottle out of Daryl's hand, reading the label. Turning an alarming shade of red, Rick looked Daryl in the eyes, fuming. "What the hell do you need lube for?!" He all but shouted at the hunter.

After a moment of stunned silence, Daryl snatched the lube right back, pocketed it, and barked at Rick "None of your business." With that he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving a speechless Rick behind.

The rest of their search went on in silence, both men being mad at each other, especially since Daryl made it a point to search each bedroom, no matter what Rick thought about it.

Rick's feelings were in overdrive. Before he walked in on Daryl, he had found the perfect gift for the hunter in a room that had most likely belonged to a teenager before the apocalypse. A pendant that Daryl could wear on a string around his neck.

It was some sort of black stone, Rick was not sure which one, formed like an arrowhead and enclosed in silver. He only needed a cord to present Daryl with it. But now he felt all messed up, and he did not even know why.

He and Daryl had just left one of the houses and were on their way over to the next one, when they heard someone cry out in agony, accompanied by a deafening noise.

Looking at each other for the briefest of moments, Daryl mouthed "Carl", and they were running into the direction the cry had come from. Daryl arrived first, with Rick hot on his heels. The sight they were greeted with was terrifying, since there was a lot of blood, and Carl appeared to be unconscious.

Maggie was already dealing with his wounds, but she looked worried. Rick fell to his knees next to Carl, grabbing his hand.

"What the hell happened?" Daryl asked.

"I'm not sure, but the staircase seems to have been unstable, he crashed and landed on his head, tearing his skin in a couple places." Maggie said, panting. "I'm trying to stop the bleeding, but it doesn't look too good."

Daryl grabbed the first aid stuff Rick had found and rifled through it, trying to find something of use, while Maggie worked on Carl's wounds. After doing all they could with the supplies they had and for fear of walkers that might have been attracted by all that noise, a decision was made to try and bring Carl back to the prison for further treatment.

It was a longer drive, but they had no choice. They layed Carl in the back of the van, Rick sat down next to him, while Daryl got in as well, to steady the teenager during the drive. He ended up steadying Rick more than Carl, holding him in an one armed embrace while Rick cried at his shoulder, all issues between them temporarily forgotten.

As soon as they arrived at the prison, they got out and carried Carl inside. Rick and Daryl put him into his cell while Maggie ran for her father and stuff to treat Carl with.

Hershel and Maggie had been working on him for a while, using Rick as a donor again, when Zach came running, looking very upset. But as he tried to get into Carl's room, he was hindered by Rick. "You can't go in there now, they are still working on him. And afterwards he will need to rest."

"I need to see him, what happened, will he be ok?" Zach blurted, stringing the words together in a way that made them nearly indistinguishable.

"Zach, I understand how you feel," Rick started, but was interrupted by the frantic teen.

"No, you don't!" He shouted, and started to cry. "I need to see him, please tell me he will be ok!" Shaking by now, Zach hugged himself, and Rick did not know how to handle the situation.

Hershel stepped out of Carl's cell, his hands full of bloody splotches, saying "He seems to be stable for now, but he lost a lot of blood and is still unconcious, so we will have to wait and see. I'm sorry, Rick, but I can't tell you anything better right now." Rick nodded, tears in his eyes.

Hershel looked at Zach. "Son, you look like you should sit down."

"I should be at his side!" Zach shouted, before he broke down, crying hard.

Daryl came jogging towards them then, knelt down to grab Zach's shoulders, and asked what had happened. While Rick tried to explain, Daryl helped Zach to stand up, then proceeded to guide him away, muttering words of comfort to him.

They arrived at Daryl's cell, and he made Zach sit down on his own bed, then closed the door. "Zach, I know this is hard for you. But there is nothing we can do right now. So unless you wanna come out right now, telling Rick the truth 'bout you and Carl, I suggest you stay here for the time being."

"But Daryl, I need to see him, I..." Zach blurted out, crying.

"I know, I know. And I am planning on sneaking you into Carl's cell as soon as the coast is clear, a'ight?" He winked at Zach, who looked up at him, beaming amid tears. Daryl made him lay down to rest, then went to get some dinner for them both.

Afterwards, he went over to Carl's cell, checking on him. Hershel had told Rick to rest as well, since he had donated a lot of blood, and Rick had finally given in.

After he had talked to Hershel again, Daryl went to get Zach, who rushed to Carl's side, grabbing his hand and kissing his cheek, whispering for him to please wake up. Daryl closed the door on that heartbreaking scene, went to his own cell and lay down on his bed, thinking.

* * *

Sometime during the night, he heard Rick's footsteps and got up to see what he was up to. Walking towards Carl's cell, he heard Rick whispering "What the hell..?"

Daryl stepped in behind Rick and was greeted by the sight of Zach, lying pressed up to Carl, holding his hand while they both slept. He put a hand on Rick's shoulder. "Let them sleep, Rick."

Still looking at Zach and Carl, his eyes all wide in surprise, he whispered to Daryl "They are really close friends, huh?"

And Daryl answered "Yep. Come on now, Carl is not the only one who needs rest. You look like hell warmed over." He began to lead Rick out of Carl's room, rolling his eyes behind Rick's back, thinking about how dense he could be at times, and guided him to Rick's room, bidding him goodnight.

Afterwards, Daryl got his CD player from his room and walked out of the building, going to a spot within the prison grounds only few knew about. He needed time to think.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think, comments are much appreciated.


End file.
